Submission
PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW AND THEN MAKE A SUBMISSION
If you still have questions about submissions after reading the information below, please contact Milly Robinson, the congress assistant, via eabctassistant@eyas.co.uk
BACKGROUND
Submissions are invited that fall within the different congress streams, and fit within the range of submission formats.
The congress will run with a semi-hybrid format. That is, participants can attend either in person or online. However, presentations given by participants attending online can only take place in the form of pre-recorded videos or electronic (online-only) posters, and are limited to certain submission formats (see below for details). Approximately one-third of the congress content will be streamed for online viewing, including all keynotes and other sessions taking place in the keynote rooms. All other content will only be accessible in person. Streamed content will also be available for viewing online for approximately 3 months after the congress.
SUBMISSION DEADLINES
28th February 2025 | CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS CLOSES
For symposia, skills classes, panel debates, clinical roundtables, in-congress workshops
31st March 2025 | CALL FOR OPEN PAPERS, 3 MINUTE TALKS & POSTERS CLOSES
PROCEDURE
When preparing your submission, please ensure you are aware of the deadlines above, which are different depending on submission type. Before making your submission, please read the descriptions of the different submission formats below. Examples are also provided for guidance.
All submissions will be peer reviewed by the 2025 Congress Scientific Committee (the BABCP National Conference Programme Advisory Group and EABCT 2025 European Scientific Committee) after the relevant submission deadline has passed. We therefore expect to be able to let you know the outcome of your submission 4-6 weeks afterwards. If you have deadlines for e.g. funding or visas that do not fit with this timing, please let us know. Please do not email for an outcome on your submission unless it is at least four weeks after the submission deadline.
Each submission can be submitted only once, and the same content cannot be submitted in different formats or across different streams. For all types of submission please identify which stream you consider the submission to be most suitable for, using the relevant drop-down menu. Please note that the Scientific Committee reserves the right to transfer successful submissions into streams and formats other than that proposed in the submission, and schedule for presentation at any point throughout the three-day congress. Submitting your material through the portal will be taken as acceptance of these conditions.
The congress server will automatically acknowledge submissions made through the portal. If you do not receive a copy and acknowledgement of your submission, please check your email junk/spam folder to make sure it has not been diverted to this, prior to contacting us.
REGISTRATION
Please note that all presenters must register and pay the congress registration fee in advance in order to present at the congress and have their contribution included in the congress programme. For participants who are attending and presenting in person, this means either i) attending the whole congress and paying the registration fee for the whole congress, or ii) attending just for the one day on which they are presenting and paying the registration fee for that day only. For participants who are attending online, presentations can only be delivered via pre-recorded video presentations (i.e. no live remote presentations), and these contributors must pay the online registration free.
1. Invited Addresses and Invited Pre Congress Workshops
Only by formal invitation from the 2025 Congress Scientific Committee.
2. Clinical and Research Symposia
About the format:
Symposia include multiple presentations, typically 4 or 5, focusing on a specific clinical or research area. Some talks may be very data-focused, centred on new studies and/or trials and their outcomes, others may be more applied, looking at service or clinical skills-related subjects. However there is an expectation that clinical or service-related presentations are empirically or theoretically grounded, and include an evaluative component.
Speakers may range from presenters at an early stage in their careers presenting their own work to leaders in the world of CBT. Talks from experts by experience are also strongly encouraged. The overall aim of a symposium is to provide a coherent and complementary set of talks that, via the depth or the breadth of what is covered, add up to more than the sum of the individual presentations. Typically, there is time for questions from the audience either after each talk or at the end of the session.
Generally, symposia will consist of a convenor and chair (which will normally be the same person, but do not have to be), individual presenters, and potentially a discussant (optional) at the end to draw together the main themes covered. Symposia will usually be scheduled for sessions of either 60 or 90 minutes dependent on the schedule of talks.,. There should be a maximum of 5 speakers per symposium (including discussant).
Submission instructions:
To ensure we receive adequate information, all submitted symposia should have a symposium abstract of maximum 500 words. This should be a general description of the overall symposium, including the names of at least 3 presenters. We recommend providing a short summary of what each speaker will present: The more specific details you can provide about what will be presented, the easier it is for the submission to be rated; submissions that lack coherence or are vague are difficult to rate very positively and thus at higher risk of rejection.
However, at the submission stage, we do not require the individual abstracts for each speaker. These will be requested if the submission is accepted, and these individual abstracts will then be what will appear in the congress programme – the overall symposium abstract is only used for rating purposes and not published. If the symposium includes published studies or studies for which there is information publicly available such as a pre-registration or protocol it can be very helpful to include links to these in the abstract to help demonstrate the quality of the submission.
The name and contact details of the symposium convenor/organiser must be provided. This individual accepts responsibility for ensuring that all speakers provide individual abstracts, when requested. They must also ensure that speakers register to attend the congress (including congress fee) and when required communicate practical information to the Scientific Committee as well as to individual speakers in the symposium.
Please click here for an example of a clinical symposium abstract.
Please click here for an example of a research symposium abstract.
Please note that for space and production reasons only the author presenting in the symposium will appear in the congress programme. However, full authorship will appear in the electronic abstract book, up to a maximum of 7 authors.
It is expected that in most cases all speakers contributing to the symposium will deliver their presentation in person (“In-person” option). However, if one or more presenters can only attend the congress remotely, and register to attend the congress online, they can supply their talk to the convenor in the form of a pre-recorded video (please indicate any pre-recorded talks in the abstract below). Please note that there is no option for a live remote presentation, and not all symposia will be broadcast online. This means that someone supplying a pre-recorded talk may not be able to follow the symposium online. There will also be limited space in the programme to submit a fully pre-recorded symposium that will be shown to delegates in full at a scheduled time in the programme (Select the “Completely pre-recorded” option). It will be the responsibility of the convenor to coordinate the individual presentations into a single file that will be submitted to the scientific secretariat as an Mp4 file by a deadline that will be agreed if the submission is accepted. All speakers will still have to pay the registration fee to attend the congress (either as in-person or online attendees).
Please note that if a symposium is rejected, the individual speakers will be invited to submit their individual presentations for consideration as open papers or posters.
3. Skills Classes
About the format:
Skills classes are short skills-based sessions that address a targeted problem and/or a specific technique. They are designed to be delivered to large groups in a short length of time (90 minutes) and should have a narrow focus on the acquisition of one key clinical or research skill. Delegates should come away from a skills class with the feeling that they have learned a specific concrete skill or procedure that they can directly apply in their clinical practice or research activities. Skills class submissions where the focus is not sufficiently clear or where it is felt that the presenter is attempting to cover too much material or is not sufficiently broad in scope in the 90 minutes available will risk rejection. Skills classes should be practically-oriented and experiential, including at least 50% skills practice, in line with BABCP requirements
Skills classes will run during the main congress programme for 90 minutes with no break. Delegates can choose to attend the skills classes at no extra cost. No fee is payable to the skills class presenters. The skills classes will be delivered live and in person and the skills class leader(s) are required to pay the registration fee for the congress
Submission instructions:
Contributors will be asked to provide an abstract of maximum 500 words, structured with the following sub-headings:
- Primary target audience
- Scientific background
- Key learning objectives
- Skills class leader(s) (please provide a brief description / bio)
- References (2-3 key references; please also include hyperlinks where possible)
Please click here for an example of a skills class abstract.
4. In-Congress Half Day Workshops
About the format:
In-congress half day workshops will run for 3 hours, including a 30-minute coffee break, within the main congress programme. They are therefore longer than a skills class and can focus in more depth on a specific clinical or research skill, or cover a broader topic area. Workshops can have one or more leaders, and the inclusion of experts by experience is also very much encouraged.
A separate registration fee is charged to delegates attending the in-congress half day workshop. The workshop leader(s) will receive 50% of the revenue from the workshop registration fees up to a maximum amount of £400. Workshop leaders are expected to register for the congress. If a workshop fails to reach a minimum number of 15 registrations it may be cancelled by the organisers. There is limited space in the programme for in-congress half day workshops, which means that we are likely to be able to accept only a minority of these submissions.
Submission instructions:
Contributors will be asked to provide an abstract of maximum 500 words, structured with the following sub-headings:
- Primary target audience
- Scientific background
- Key learning objectives
- Teaching methods
- Workshop leader(s) (please provide a brief description / bio)
- References (2-3 key references; please also include hyperlinks where possible)
Please click here for an example of an in-congress half day workshop abstract.
5. Panel Discussion
About the format:
Panel discussions involve experts in their fields providing a brief statement of their position on a specific clinical or theoretical issue or topic, and then debate differences in opinion, controversial issues etc. with other experts. At their best, a panel discussion provides the opportunity to stimulate lively discussion that will go beyond the room and continue amongst delegates not only at the congress but long afterwards.
This requires an active chair who may act as an optional discussant, introduces the topic, organises position statements, handles the discussion amongst the experts, fields questions from the audience and is responsible for time management of the session. The inclusion of experts by experience is also very much encouraged.
Panel discussions can contain a maximum of 4-5 people (maximum 5) to include an optional discussant (if providing a summary). Please note that each presenter should present a verbal statement (no use of PowerPoint/visual aids etc.) of position for maximum 10 minutes, which typically will not require presentation of data.
Panel discussions will be scheduled for 90 minute sessions. The panel discussions will be delivered live and in person and all panel members are required to pay the registration fee for the congress
Submission instructions:
The abstract should be a maximum of 500 words, and include the names of at least 3 speakers.
Please click here for an example of a panel discussion abstract.
6. Clinical Roundtable
About the format:
Clinical roundtables involves a clinical case discussion by experts illustrating contrasting viewpoints and analysis of the clinical problem under discussion. Presenters should present an anonymised case, focusing on specific topics. One person is required to present the case and up to 4 people can comment on the case. This provides a particularly valuable opportunity to compare and contrast how different kinds of CBT might approach the same problem.
Clinical roundtables will be scheduled for 90 minute sessions. In a typical clinical roundtable, a clinical case might be presented for approximately 15 minutes and each expert would subsequently provide their opinions between 5-10 minutes. The remaining would then be for debate and taking questions from the audience. However, the structure is flexible and alternative proposals will be considered, as long as the overall time constraint is strictly managed.
A clinical roundtable requires a chair, who may act as an optional discussant, to introduce the topic, handle comments from the other participants and field questions from the audience.
Submission instructions:
The abstract should be maximum 500 words and include the names of at least 3 speakers.
The clinical roundtables will be delivered live and in person, and all panel members are required to pay the registration fee for the congress
7. Open Papers
About the format:
An ‘Open Paper’ is a presentation on a clinical and/or research topic with a typical time allocation of 15-20 minutes. Open papers that are accepted will be grouped together by the Scientific Committee to form symposia of 90 minutes. An open paper may therefore be a suitable format for someone who wishes to give a talk in a symposium, but is not part of a submitted symposium and does not wish to convene a whole symposium themselves. Open papers can be submitted by anyone at any stage of their clinical or research career, and submissions from experts by experience are also very much encouraged. Open papers are a very popular format with limited space and can therefore be very competitive. However, submissions that cannot be accepted as open papers due to limited capacity will automatically be considered for potential acceptance as posters or a 3 minute talk (3MT; see below).
Submission instructions:
Open papers require an abstract up to a maximum of 500 words. We strongly suggest a structured abstract using the following sections (although we realise this is not always appropriate):
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Discussion
If the open paper includes a study for which there is information publicly available such as published paper, pre-registration or protocol it can be very helpful to include one key reference and a link in the abstract to help demonstrate the quality of the submission and to help congress delegates find further information.
Please note that for space and production reasons only authors presenting the open paper will appear in the congress programme. However, full authorship will appear in the electronic abstract book up to a maximum of 7 authors.
Please click here for an example of an open paper abstract.
Additionally, please note that an open paper presenter may be limited to only presenting one open paper in the programme (they can of course present other material in an accepted symposium as well as other formats, e.g. posters.)
All open paper presentations will be delivered live and in person, and all presenters are required to pay the registration fee for the congress
8. Three Minute Talks (3MTs)
About the format:
A Three Minute Talk (3MT) is a brief version of the ‘Open Paper’ format as described above. All 3MTs will be placed together into open paper slots, and each speaker will have 3 minutes to present their research, service development, or clinical practice topic, leading to particularly stimulating sessions.
Many standard talk topics could be presented as a 3MT, but the format might also be particularly suitable for presenting new ideas or case presentations that might not yet be ready or suitable for a full-length presentation slot. 3MTs that are not accepted in this format will automatically be considered for a poster.
Submission instructions:
3MTs require an abstract up to a maximum of 500 words. We strongly suggest a structured abstract using the following sections (although we realise this is not always appropriate):
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Discussion
If the 3MT includes a study for which there is information publicly available such as published paper, pre-registration or protocol it can be very helpful to include one key reference and a link in the abstract to help demonstrate the quality of the submission and to help congress delegates find further information.
Please note that for space and production reasons only authors presenting the 3MT will appear in the congress programme. However, full authorship will appear in the electronic abstract book up to a maximum of 7 authors.
All 3MT presentations will be delivered live and in person, and all presenters are required to pay the registration fee for the congress
9. Posters
About the format:
Posters are visual presentations of research studies or clinical cases, and will be displayed during themed poster sessions scheduled throughout the congress. The presenter is encouraged to stand by their poster and be available for discussion during the refreshment breaks while their poster is on display. Poster displays are arranged and scheduled so that they can be attended by everyone at the congress, providing an opportunity to present research or a clinical case to the widest possible audience. For this reason, this presentation format provides the greatest opportunity for in-depth discussion; delegates, often including experts in the area, will often seek out the posters falling in their area of interest precisely because they offer the chance to meet the presenter and discuss the work in detail. The visual presentation format of the posters also offers many opportunities for innovation, for example via the inclusion of QR codes or links to additional information, videos, or more, and wide dissemination via sharing on e.g. social media. Posters are popular with presenters across the whole range of experience including students and early-career researchers or clinicians, experts by experience, and recognised leaders in a particular field. In addition to completed research studies or clinical cases we will also consider posters reporting on studies currently in progress or study protocols. Posters will also be displayed online within the online congress platform. This means that if you are attending the congress online only it is possible to submit an electronic poster for online display.
Submission instructions:
Posters require an abstract up to a maximum of 500 words. For research posters we strongly suggest a structured abstract using the following sections (although we realise this is not always appropriate):
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Discussion
For case report posters we suggest the following sections:
- Presenting Problem
- Case Conceptualisation and Intervention
- Outcome
- Review and Evaluation
Clear reference must be made to the relevant underpinning empirical and theoretical bases and include all four sections. If the poster includes a study for which there is information publically available such as published paper, pre-registration or protocol it can be very helpful to include one key reference and a link in the abstract to help demonstrate the quality of the submission and to help congress delegates find further information.
Please click here for examples of poster abstracts.
Technical information on how to prepare your poster will be provided with notification of acceptance. Please indicate below whether you plan to attend to present your poster in person (in which case it will also be displayed online), or whether you are submitting an e-poster for online display only.
Please note that for space and production reasons only the first three authors will appear in the congress programme. However, full authorship will appear in the abstract book up to a maximum of 7 authors. If there are more than 7 authors then please acknowledge this within your poster.
All identifying individual details in a case report poster must be removed or altered so as to maintain anonymity.
10. Technical demonstrations
These are 20-30 minute short demonstrations that present specific technology or equipment and its application to CBT. Technical demonstrations can include the presentation of both hardware and software, as well as research and clinical data, in a flexible yet focused manner.
The abstract should include a clear description of the relevant technology and its relevance to the application of CBT.
Contributors should provide a structured abstract of up to 500 words including the following subsections:
- Technical / Scientific background
- Key features of the technology presented
- Implications for everyday clinical practice of CBT
Delegates can attend the technical demonstration at no extra cost therefore no fee is payable.
The topics for technical demonstrations can be: software demonstrations, virtual reality (VR), telehealth platforms, biofeedback and wearable technology, AI and machine learning applications, e-health and mobile applications and gamification in therapy.